Latest / Sleepy Facts About History
Did Zhang Qian Really Discover the Silk Road? - The Han Court, the Xiongnu, and the Hexi Corridor | Sleepy Facts About History
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!
In 138 BCE, a palace attendant named Zhang Qian left the Han capital of Chang'an with one hundred men and a single instruction: find the Yuezhi people and persuade them to fight the Xiongnu. Thirteen years later, he returned with no alliance, no treaties, and only two survivors. Yet the intelligence he carried back would fundamentally alter how the Han court understood the western regions and reshape the geography of power in Central Asia.
This episode examines the reality behind the…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.